Etymology

firefox

F4I1R1E1F4O1X8

Today it means: Red panda Full definition →

Finnish tulikettu
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firefox · noun1

Calque from Mandarin 火狐 (huǒhú, literally “fire fox”).

firefox · noun2

  1. Finnish · calque oftulirepo
  2. Finnish · calque oftulikettu
  3. English todayfirefox

Calque of Finnish tulikettu or Finnish tulirepo.

Firefox · proper noun3

Renamed from Firebird in 2004. The reasoning given for the name, explained as another name for the red panda (see firefox), was, “It's similar to Firebird. It's easy to remember. It sounds good. It's unique. We like it. And we weren't able to find any other project or company even remotely similar to a web browser that uses the same name.” The logo depicts a fox (hence the name is equivalent to fire + fox); its original designer, Jon Hicks, has stated, “A firefox is actually a cute red panda, but it didn’t really conjure up the right imagery. The only concept I had done that I felt happy with was […] inspired by seeing a Japanese brush painting of a fox”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.